Belle's Dream
by Threeishere
Summary: What if Belle had fallen in love with Gaston before she discovered her love of reading? Two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Hey readers! This is a two-shot! It was going to be a one-shot but I thought it got a bit long. Just have to say I don't think this ever happened, but thought it would be interesting to write. It might be considered AU, I'm not sure, but it takes place before the events of the movie so it could have theoretically happened. Review?_

"She's gorgeous," boomed a young Gaston, turning his blue eyes on his short and pudgy companion.

The sixteen-year-old hunter, on the way back from a hunting trip, had watched as a widower and his daughter of fourteen move into their new home. The brunette looked stunning in what seemed to be a new, blue dress.

"Gee, that girl is pretty!" LeFou, Gaston's sidekick, agreed.

A boy of fifteen, short LeFou was trying to break his bad habit of standing on his tiptoes when next to his tall friend. He gasped, a little comically, as Gaston punched his head, causing his heels to hit the ground again, and hard.

"Don't look at her that way," growled Gaston.

LeFou brushed himself off and started speaking again.

"Any guy'd look at that girl that way," he muttered, before looking up.

Gaston was far away from him, approaching the house. LeFou stared after him, took a step forward, then shook his head and turned around. He would go to the town and maybe see if he could find one of the pretty blonde triplets. They never paid any attention to him, but he still enjoyed watching them.

Gaston approached the attractive girl with a broad smile on his face. She was carrying a large device, something mechanical that was beyond his comprehension. She tripped a little bit, and Gaston put his arms around the device.

"Be careful," he said, smiling at her.

She met his eyes, very surprised that somebody besides her father was here at their new home. She blushed and smiled at the same time as Gaston took the device from her hands.

"Oh, thank you," the girl said, her voice sounding quite melodious.

"It's no trouble for someone as strong as I am," he said, looking her in the eyes, causing her blush to deepen.

"What's your name?" she asked, looking straight into his eyes.

"Gaston," he said, going into the house and setting the device down, "And what is your name?"

"Belle," she said, still gazing at him.

"Very fitting for a beauty such as yourself," Gaston replied, taking a step closer to her.

She smiled, but didn't move back. Gaston couldn't stop from grinning. She was absolutely gorgeous! There was something different about her, different than any other girl he met. She was blushing, but she didn't back away. She was confident in herself in a way the girls in the village weren't.

"You're very kind," she said, causing Gaston's heart to rise in his chest.

"Belle!" exclaimed her father from outside, "Have you seen the silverware?"

"It was at the front of the carriage with me," she replied back, before turning back to Gaston, "Do you live in the village?"

"Why, yes I do!"

"What's it like there?" she asked.

"I can show you myself. Nobody knows this town better than me! Now come on, unpacking isn't woman's work," Gaston explained, grabbing her hand.

"Oh, I really shouldn't. I can't leave my father to do this alone," she said, but didn't pull her hand back.

"Come on, Belle," said Gaston, "You'll want to be introduced to the town with me at your side."

Brown eyes met blue and she nodded slightly.

"Papa," she called, "I'm going to the town with Gaston."

"Who's Gaston?" he called back, sounding muffled.

Belle went outside, followed by Gaston. Her father was underneath the carriage, his stubby legs sticking out. She smiled fondly at him, but Gaston deeply frowned. This man struck him as odd, and he didn't approve of odd. Still, looking at Belle's smile relieved Gaston's judgment a little. He turned to the old man as he scrambled out from under the carriage.

"This is Gaston, Papa," said Belle, motioning to Gaston.

"Oh, it's so nice to meet you," Maurice said, holding out his hand.

Gaston shook it, giving Maurice a glimpse on his strong grip. "What a strong young man!"

"I know!" Gaston boomed.

"He wants to show me around the town," explained Belle.

"Go right ahead," said Maurice.

Belle beamed and grabbed Gaston's hand.

"Let's go!" she said.

Gaston led her into the village, and started explaining who everyone was. Belle quickly realized that he did have a bit of an ego when every person was described as one who adores him. He got to three blonde girls and LeFou, and gladly introduced them.

"Belle, I'd like you to meet my hunting partner, LeFou. He can tell you that I'm the greatest hunter around," said Gaston.

"He's the greatest hunter in the whole world!" affirmed LeFou, grabbing her hands and shaking both of them.

"Pleasure to meet you," she said sweetly.

"And where did you come from?" asked one of the triplets, looking her over as if she were an opponent.

"Paris," Belle replied, "What are your names?"

"I'm Claudia, and these are my sisters, Laura and Paula," she responded, "Why in the world did you leave Paris?"

"Oh, well, it was just me and father in such a busy place. He decided that he could do his work better out here," said Belle, a little reluctantly.

"This town is much better than any city," said Gaston, biased. "There's much better hunting out here."

"There's more to life than hunting," Belle muttered, glancing at him.

"You need to come admire my trophies in the tavern," suggested Gaston.

"Oh, boy, you'd love that," LeFou put in.

Gaston put his arm around Belle and led her to the tavern, leaving the triplets looking shocked and betrayed. They had been the most beautiful girls in town before Belle came along. They had gotten all of Gaston's attention before she came. Still, they could get any man in the town when they were old enough. They would swoon over Gaston, but for now they really had nothing against Belle. As long as she didn't get in the way.

On the way to the tavern, Belle and Gaston passed the bookshop. Belle stopped and looked into it.

"Is that a bookshop?" she asked.

"Yeah, but you don't want to see that," muttered Gaston.

"Oh, alright. Gaston, this might be strange, but can we go to the woods?" Belle asked.

The woods? What in the world did she want to see there? Gaston had his heart set on taking her to the tavern, but when her brown eyes turned on him he began to rethink it. What harm was there in taking her to the woods?

"Alright, I can show you where I hit a huge buck the other day," Gaston decided.

He began rambling on, but Belle wasn't listening. As he took her to the woods, she thought again of the bookshop. For some reason she just wanted to go inside. She knew how to read, but never did for fun. Her mother had read all the time, but Belle had never got into it. She missed her mother, and just wanted to go into the bookshop because she knew her mother would have loved it.

Gaston took her to a nice spot at the edge of the woods, and sat down. She sat next to him and he took her hand.

"You're the most beautiful girl in town," the boy said, grinning.

"You might be the most handsome guy," Belle retorted.

"I know I'm the most handsome," said Gaston.

Belle smiled and rolled her eyes, looking up.

"You know," she said, "My whole life I've been dreaming of becoming a wife. I've always wanted live in a provincial town like this one."

"Maybe your dream will come sooner than you think," Gaston suggested, looking her in the eyes.

Gaston kissed her. Belle was surprised, but kissed him back. He put his large hand on the back of her head, and they released. Belle turned away, blushing.

"You're going to be my wife one day," Gaston swore.

Belle smiled, delighted.

"I should go back home to my father," she admitted.

"I'll walk you back," Gaston said.

On the way back to her home, they passed the bookshop again. The bookseller had just come outside. Belle stopped and walked over to him, with Gaston on her arm.

"Sir, may I ask you something?" Belle asked politely.

"Oh, yes, of course," the old man said, adjusting his glasses.

Gaston frowned deeply, having no idea what Belle was up to.

"Do you have any fairy tales? I just moved here today, and my father had lost a few of our old books. I just wanted to replace them for him," Belle explained, "but I'm afraid I'm not sure how to pay you."

Gaston took his arm off Belle, and crossed his arms, very close to pouting. Belle ignored him, as did the bookseller.

"I can let you borrow books, and you can buy them when you get the money," the bookseller explained, "I can give you one for now."

He entered the store and emerged with a book, handing it to Belle. She held in her hand without even looking at it.

"Thank you so much," she said.

"Oh, anytime. Not many people read in this town, so I'm delighted when anybody wants to do business, even if there's no exchange of money," the bookseller explained.

"Women shouldn't read," growled Gaston.

Belle looked abruptly at Gaston, and smiled a little sheepishly.

"It's just to give to my father," she defended.

"Have a nice day," said the bookseller, and Belle said good-bye.

Gaston walked her home, and somehow managed to turn the topic again to himself. Belle found herself glancing at the book, but never opening it. They arrived home to notice everything had been moved inside.

"I had a wonderful day, Gaston," Belle said.

"Of course you did, you spent it with me!" the young man said, beaming again.

Belle giggled and Gaston kissed her on the cheek. After he said good-bye, she walked inside, starting to dream about Gaston. In a few years she could marry him, and live in this town forever! She was quite pleased as she walked into her new kitchen.

"Oh, Papa, I had the best day," she told her father.

He smiled.

"That's wonderful. What's that?" Maurice asked, seeing the book in her hand.

"It's for you. It's a fairytale, like what Mama used to read," Belle explained.

"How sweet of you!" replied Maurice, giving his daughter a hug.

He left the kitchen to do some more work, and Belle went to lay the book on the table. She looked at it one more time, and opened it. Instead of putting it down, she took it into the living room, and began to read it. She missed her mother so much, and for once she felt her mother next to her. Belle was fascinated by the book, and read late into the night.

When her father noticed she was still up after dark, he came into the room.

"You're reading!" Maurice exclaimed, staring at her.

"Oh, Papa, this is marvelous," Belle said, "There's a girl, and a prince in disguise, but she doesn't know who he is!"

"Books really are marvelous," Maurice admitted, "but you need to get some sleep."

Belle looked longingly at the book, but listened to her father, kissing him on the cheek before going upstairs to her new bedroom.

After Belle left, Maurice cried a little.

"After all this time, she finally discovered what you loved so much," the old man whispered to the air.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to update! Hopefully you can forgive me! I really wonder what you all think of this story! Thanks for reading! _

The next day, Belle woke up from a marvelous dream. She had been dancing with a prince dressed in blue, with light, auburn hair and gorgeous blue eyes. She was tempted to stay in bed and dream more of her prince, but eventually got up.

Belle remembered her book and ran downstairs, so excited to find out what happened. She couldn't believe how much books could take her away from the real world! Would the heroine discover the true identity of the prince? She couldn't help but imagine herself marrying a prince, and finding adventure somewhere. Never before in her life had she knew what it really was to dream, but today she was developing her own dream.

Belle picked up the book and opened it, completely engrossed.

A few moments later Maurice came downstairs, yawned, then smiled at the sight of his daughter reading the book. She looked so much like her mother in that position.

"Good morning, Belle," he said, walking over and kissing her on the head.

"Good morning, Papa," she said, very clearly distracted.

She stayed on the couch for about two hours, and made extraordinary progress. She only had five chapters left in the book, but she shut it knowing she would have to do some chores. She helped her father clean the new house a little bit, unpacked, and offered to go to the market to get supplies to cook dinner.

She grabbed her basket on the way to the market and put the book inside it. As she walked to the heart of the village, Belle found herself extremely tempted to read her book. She figured reading it for another chapter wouldn't hurt anything, so she sat down at the fountain and began to read it.

Gaston waltzed through the village with LeFou carrying (or more like dragging) a huge buck behind his friend.

"Belle!" Gaston exclaimed, excited to see the most beautiful girl in town.

Belle didn't respond, but simply kept reading her book. Only four more chapters!

Gaston walked over, puzzled that she hadn't even noticed him. Never in his life had he been ignored! He loudly cleared his throat and sat down next to her, unsure what to do. Belle still didn't acknowledge him.

LeFou scampered after his best friend, struggling to keep hold of the buck. He was genuinely perplexed at Belle's actions. Was she mad at Gaston?

Gaston stood up and tore the book out of Belle's hands, throwing it on the ground.

"Good morning, Belle," he growled, clearly irritated.

Belle stood up, shocked.

"Gaston! Please hand me my book," she stated, firmly.

Gaston stomped on her book, leaving his muddy boot on top of it.

"It's not right for a woman to read," he said, quoting something he'd heard his father say thousands of times, "When you're my wife, you'll be doing no such thing."

"Maybe I don't want to be your wife," Belle spat, furious.

For once in his life, Gaston was at a loss for words. He stared at Belle, feeling the pain of her fury. How DARE she say such a thing?

"Boy," LeFou said, only to be cut off by Gaston hitting him on the head.

"You can't treat people like that," Belle said, horrified.

Gaston struggled to control his temper, knowing that hitting her with the full blow of his strength would be dangerous.

"It's your duty to respect me," he argued with her.

"I do respect you," Belle said, still angry.

Belle bent down and snatched up her book. The quick motion surprised Gaston, and as the book slipped from under his foot, he too slipped. Now on the ground, Gaston felt something hot in his cheeks and a strange feeling in his stomach. Was he feeling embarrassed?

Anger quickly replaced the feeling and he shot up and grabbed Belle's shoulder, holding his hand up to slap her across the face.

Belle looked at his hand, then into his eyes. He stared back at her, not seeing fear in her eyes. He remembered part of what made him so attracted to her: that she hadn't been afraid. She was confident, in a way unlike any other girl he met.

Gaston was most definitely in love with her. He put his arm down.

"I was thinking we could head to the tavern tonight," he said, trying to change the subject. Girls liked to know that he had been thinking about them, after all.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," said Belle, not comprehending his sudden change in mood.

At that, the inventor's daughter walked off, leaving Gaston fuming. LeFou stared after her, shocked that she had just stood up to Gaston. Nobody ever did that!

"She doesn't know what's good for her," Gaston exclaimed to LeFou.

"Yeah," LeFou agreed immediately, not wanting to become the victim of Gaston's wrath.

From that time on, Belle ignored any and all contact with Gaston. Reading her mother's favorite fairytale had shown her what real men acted like. Real men were chivalrous, kind, humble, and most of all respectful of her wishes. Not at all like Gaston. How could she have been so blind?

Gaston's actions today had been the opposite of the actions of the hero in her book. It was as if it were a divine sign that he wasn't for her.

Belle slowly became addicted to reading, going through a book every week, then every day. Her father encouraged the habit, and she became the bookseller's favorite customer. The more she read, the more she knew. The more she knew, the more her dreams changed.

Belle did dream of true love, but began to dream that she was meant for something greater than this provincial life.

Gaston, however, remained the same. Growing up in a village where everybody stayed the same, he had a poor concept of change. Whenever he looked at Belle, he would see that same girl who had promised to become his wife one day. That was his dream.

"She's the one! The lucky girl I'm going to marry!" Gaston exclaimed to LeFou one day.

"But she's—" LeFou began to say.

"The most beautiful girl in town!" Gaston cut him off.

"I know—"

"And that makes her the best. And don't I deserve the best?"

"Well of course, I mean you do, but I mean…" LeFou trailed off as Gaston began professing his love of Belle.

_But I mean, she's changed, _LeFou thought to himself. _She's a different person. If only you would listen…_


End file.
